________________CASTING THE NET

An Overview of Copyright on the Internet and Links to Copyright Resources

by Jules Darren

Advances in technology have revolutionized the manner in which information is accessed, organized and disseminated by individuals as well as libraries. On the World Wide Web the use of an input device (mouse, trackball, etc.) to point and click or cu t and paste easily provides a user an exact copy of an electronic document or file. These technological advances have not only revolutionized the relative ease of accessing and downloading information, but have also raised serious legal issues over fair use and copyright. The emergence and growth of e-journals (electronic journals) is another innovation that not only promises to revolutionize the publishing industry but will also join the great debate over fair use and copyright.

What effect does the electronic delivery of information have on you or your library? If you can easily take possession of information that is readily available on the Internet, what regulations govern how much of it you can download, where you can do wnload that information to, and whether or not you can re-post it on your personal or library's homepage?

The links below are provided as a resource for understanding some of the issues involved in the copyright controversy.

Copyright Resources on the Internet

Some of these links are taken from "DOC it!" NN/LM South Central Region's Document Delivery Newsletter

• Articles
  • Cyberspace Law for Non-Lawyers: Copyright Law in Cyberspace
  • by Cyberspace Law Institute and Counsel Connect
  • http://www.counsel.com/cyberspace/copyright.html

  • Taking Liberties: Finding a Middle Ground Between the Free Flow of Information and Economic Constraints (Los Angeles Daily Journal, March 28, 1996)
  • by Stuart Biegel
  • http:// http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/iclp/prac.html
• Copyright Clearance Center
  • Copyright Clearance Center Online
  • Describes the services of the Copyright Clearance Center.
  • http://www.copyright.com/
• Government Documents
  • Copyright Act of 1976, As Amended (1994)
  • (including the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 and the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992)
  • Legal Information Institute
  • http://www.law.cornell.edu/usc/17/overview.html

  • Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure
  • Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights
  • gopher://ntiant1.ntia.doc.gov/00/papers/documents/files/ipnii.txt

  • U.S. Copyright Office
  • Includes excellent copyright information circulars, copyright registration forms, and information on
    how to search the Copyright Office records.
  • http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  • Usenet Copyright FAQ
  • Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about copyright.
  • http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/law/copyright/myths/part1/faq.html
• Other Sites with Copyright and Intellectual Property Links
  • American Library Association
  • Records ALA's efforts to track and influence copyright and intellectual property legislation and policy.
  • http://www.ala.org/alayou/interests/interests_home.html

  • Association of Research Libraries
  • Information Policies Web Pages. Lists a number of intellectual property and copyright documents including the "Green Paper" and the "White Paper."
  • http://arl.cni.org/info/frn/copy/copytoc.html

  • Computers and Academic Freedom (The Electronic Frontier Foundation)
  • Intellectual Property Law Primer for Multimedia Developers
  • http://www.eff.org/pub/CAF/law/ip-primer

  • Copyright and Intellectual Property Resources (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions)
  • http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/ifla/II/cpyright.htm

  • Copyright, Fair Use and Other Legal Matters (Temple University)
  • http://astro.temple.edu/~pryluck/copyright.html

  • Copyright Information Page (University of Michigan University Library)
  • http://www.lib.umich.edu/libhome/copyright/index.html

  • Copyright Listserv
  • Warning: a very active lists with lots of e-mail daily.
  • To subscribe contact cni-copyright@cni.org

  • Copyright Resources Online
  • Includes copies of sections of university copyright resources and on non-university intellectual property resources.
  • http://www.library.yale.edu:80/~okerson/copyproj.html

  • The Copyright Website
  • This site endeavors to provide real world, practical and relevant copyright information of interests to infonauts, netsurfers, webspinners, content providers, musicians, appropriationists, activists, infringers, outlaws, and law abiding citizens.
  • http://www.benedict.com/

  • The Institute for Learning Technologies Guide to Copyright
  • http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/projects/copyright/

  • Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)
  • Provides access to the full-text of the Copyright Law and related documents. Includes links to other copyright related Web sites.
  • http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/copyright.html

  • Overview of U.S. Copyright System (University of Tennessee Research Corporation)
  • http://utrc08.admin.utk.edu/overcopy.html

  • Software Copyright Policy, Guidelines, and Training Materials (University of Florida)
  • http://gnv.ifas.ufl.edu/WWW/PIRATE/index.html

  • UC Berkeley Digital Library Sun Site -- Copyright and Intellectual Property Rights for Digital Documents
  • Includes current awareness information, full-text articles, policy examples and court opinions, initiatives and projects relating to copyright in the digital environment
  • http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Copyright/